Program Information
Plan Robustness Study of Volumetric-Modulated Arc Therapy Vs. Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer
W Liu*, S Patel , J Shen , D Harrington , J Stoker , X Ding , Y Hu , W Wong , M Halyard , S Schild , G Ezzell , M Bues , Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, AZ
Presentations
SU-E-T-618 (Sunday, July 12, 2015) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose:Lack of plan robustness may contribute to local failure in volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) to treat head and neck (H&N) cancer. Thus we compared plan robustness of VMAT with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
Methods:VMAT and IMRT plans were created for 9 H&N cancer patients. For each plan, six new perturbed dose distributions were computed - one each for ± 3mm setup deviations along the S-I, A-P and L-R directions. We used three robustness quantification tools: (1) worst-case analysis (WCA); (2) dose-volume histograms (DVHs) band (DVHB); and (3) root-mean-square-dose deviation (RMSD) volume histogram (DDVH). DDVH represents the relative volume (y) on the vertical axis and the RMSD (x) on the horizontal axis. Similar to DVH, this means that y% of the volume of the indicated structure has the RMSD at least x Gy[RBE].The width from the first two methods at different target DVH indices (such as D95 and D5) and the area under the DDVH curves (AUC) for the target were used to indicate plan robustness. In these robustness quantification tools, the smaller the value, the more robust the plan is. Plan robustness evaluation metrics were compared using Wilcoxon test.
Results:DVHB showed the width at D95 from IMRT to be larger than from VMAT (unit Gy) [1.59 vs 1.18 (p=0.49)], while the width at D5 from IMRT was found to be slightly larger than from VMAT [0.59 vs 0.54 (p=0.84)]. WCA showed similar results [D95: 3.28 vs 3.00 (p=0.56); D5: 1.68 vs 1.95 (p=0.23)]. DDVH showed the AUC from IMRT to be slightly smaller than from VMAT [1.13 vs 1.15 (p=0.43)].
Conclusion:VMAT plan robustness is comparable to IMRT plan robustness. The plan robustness conclusions from WCA and DVHB are DVH parameter dependent. On the other hand DDVH captures the overall effect of uncertainties on the dose to a volume of interest.
Funding Support, Disclosures, and Conflict of Interest: NIH/NCI K25CA168984 Eagles Cancer Research Career Development The Lawrence W. and Marilyn W. Matteson Fund for Cancer Research Mayo ASU Seed Grant The Kemper Marley Foundation
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